zeehan-to-strahan-elevation-chart
In the morning the rain was significant enough that the hotel staff had to place buckets in a couple of strategic places rot catch the drops! In the foyer my bags were already waiting for me to finish breakfast. And me? I was waiting for the rain to finish what it was doing! It was just after nine and since the ride down to Strahan wouldn’t take more than three hours, there was no point in heading out in a deluge. More coffee, a couple more emails sent, another look at the elevation chart for the day to cheer me up – and the time passed.
Zeehan – Cecil Hotel lobby and a corner of the dining room
Zeehan – Hotel Cecil’s restaurant – aka Maud’s
By 9:30 the rain had stopped and I left the Hotel Cecil, pedalling up Main Street past the Heemskirk Motel to the junction with B27 Highway. It would be an exhilarating downhill ride to Strahan; the chance that I was just cycling in an interlude in the rain meant I did not stop to take any pix. Traffic was very light and I had the road almost to myself.
Zeehan’s Hotel Cecil after the rain
B27 took me right into Strahan. a small tourist community with an undeniably beautiful setting and some tortured history, thanks to its proximity to early 1800’s British penal colonies like the one on Sarah Island in Macquarie Harbour and the one up the Gordon River.
Note: These days Strahan seems to be made up mostly of rental cottages and other types of not-inexpensive accommodation; my reserved room at the Strahan Backpackers YHA on Harvey Street was one of the cheapest options available.
The Lonely Planet writer approvingly quotes from a Chicago Tribune piece on Strahan that it is “the best little town in the world”. In the three days I spent there I never did get that feeling! I was expecting this –
“the restored pioneer buildings – the cutesy shops, hotels and cottages crowding up the slope from the compact waterfront – and you’ve got a scene that could work as a Disney film set.” Lonely Planet Tasmania (238)
While the waterfront setting is undeniably striking, there really is no “town” there!
What it does have is:
- an 800 meter stretch down Harvey Street, with almost a dozen rental accommodation choices and the Strahan IGA. It is not especially charming.
- a one-kilometer walk along the Esplanade, running along the waterfront with nice views of the Long Bay that leads into Macquarie Harbour.
And that is about it. It reminded me of Tofino on the west coast of Vancouver Island. It too is a small community with an undeniable grand setting and like Strahan, it offers visitors all sorts of possible things to do nearby. Like Tofino, there is really not a lot to do in Strahan itself. Both small communities serve as bases from which to explore the natural beatury of the area. For Aussies it perhaps represents their “end of the road and you can’t go any further” moment? As for the locals, I had the feeling that many people drove in from their homes in Queenstown for the day to work in the restaurants and tourist services.
At the top of the list of things to do would be the following –
- the Gordon River Cruise, a trip up the Gordon River after a visit to some sites in Macquarie Harbour (Hell’s Gates; Sarah island).
- Another attraction is the West Coast Wilderness Railway ride to Queenstown, as well as a couple of other ride options that feature spectacular scenery. It rained two of the three days I was there but I did get in the boat ride up the Gordon to the site of the penal colony.
- There is also a long-running play The Ship That Never Was that seems to be on the visitors’ to-do list.
After dropping off my bags at the hostel I cycled down Esplanade to check out
Strahan waterfront Info Board
On the Esplanade is the outdoor theatre which has been putting on performances of The Ship That Never Was for years.
The Ship That Never Was – entrance
The Ship That Never Was – Stage and seating area
Strahan, Tasmania – downtown junction
The Gordon River Cruise:
Strahan to Queenstown:
